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I ran one campaign on TikTok and one on Snapchat with different budgets: how do I compare their returns fairly?

Run each campaign separately in the calculator with the same margin, then compare two lines, not one: ROAS to see how efficient each dirham was, and estimated profit after ads to see what actually reached your pocket. Before that, make sure both platforms' revenue is counted the same way, or you are comparing figures that do not speak the same language.

Published · 3 min read

Condition one: revenue counted the same way

TikTok and Snapchat each attribute sales to their ads with their own settings, with click and view windows whose defaults differ and which you can change. If one platform counts view-only conversions over a longer period, its attributed revenue will look bigger without the campaign being any better.

You have two routes to a fair comparison. One is to align the attribution settings on both platforms as far as you can before pulling the reports. The other, more reliable, is to use revenue you track in your own store: a separate tagged link per platform built with the UTM campaign link builder, or a separate discount code per campaign.

Condition two: do not stop at ROAS

Say your margin before ads is 40% and, once revenue is counted consistently, the figures look like this. Enter each campaign in the ROAS calculator with the same margin:

  1. TikTok: 3,000 AED spent, 9,000 AED revenue. ROAS 3x, ad share of revenue 33.33%, break-even ROAS 2.5x, estimated profit after ads 600.
  2. Snapchat: 400 AED spent, 2,000 AED revenue. ROAS 5x, ad share 20%, break-even also 2.5x, estimated profit after ads 400.

Snapchat is more efficient per dirham and its ROAS is clearly higher. But TikTok put more profit in the bank because its budget was bigger. Both campaigns are above break-even and both are worth keeping; the real question is not which is better but where the next dirham should go.

How to read this result

  • A high ROAS on a small budget tempts you to scale it, but it does not mean the ROAS will hold when you double the spend. Raise the budget in steps and rerun the numbers after each one.
  • A lower ROAS on a bigger budget is not a failure if it is above break-even. It brings more profit in absolute terms, even if less efficiently.
  • If one of the campaigns falls below break-even, the calculator says so plainly, and the comparison becomes easy.
  • If the advertised products have different margins, do not use one margin for both campaigns. Enter each campaign's real margin.

Period and timing

Compare campaigns that ran over the same dates, because payday weeks and seasons such as Ramadan lift sales on every channel. A campaign that ran during Eid week cannot be set against one that ran mid-month. And to understand why the two platforms differ, look at click-through rate, cost per click and conversion rate for each in the Campaign performance calculator.

Common questions

Should I combine both campaigns into one calculation?

If you want total ad ROAS, yes, but you lose the comparison. Run each campaign alone first, then the total if you need it.

The two platforms bill in different currencies. What now?

Convert one figure into the other's currency before entering it. The calculator assumes revenue and spend are in the same currency.

Is there a benchmark ROAS for TikTok or Snapchat?

We do not give benchmarks. The number that matters is the break-even ROAS for your margin.